f you’re a hairstylist who felt blindsided after graduating beauty school, you’re not crazy — and you’re not alone.
For years, beauty schools have sold the same dream:
“Graduate, get hired, make six figures.”
The reality?
Most new stylists leave school underpaid, overwhelmed, and completely unprepared for real salon life.
In this episode of Sh!t I Told My Hairdresser, we break down the Beauty School Myth — and why the industry keeps repeating it.
Beauty School Prepares You to Pass a Test — Not Build a Career
Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Beauty school is designed to help you pass state board, not succeed in a salon.
You learn:
sanitation
basic cutting and color theory
timing and procedures
What you don’t learn:
how to build clientele
how to make money behind the chair
how to handle salon politics
how to manage burnout
how long it actually takes to become profitable
Graduating beauty school doesn’t make you “salon ready.”
It makes you licensed — and those are not the same thing.
The Six-Figure Lie That Hooks Students
One of the most damaging parts of beauty school marketing is income exaggeration.
Many programs imply:
$100k–$200k salaries
fast success
instant independence
What actually happens?
Most stylists start as assistants
Entry-level income is often closer to $35k–$45k
Building real income takes years, not months
This gap between expectation and reality is why so many new stylists burn out early — not because they’re bad at hair, but because they were sold a fantasy.
Why New Stylists Feel Like They’re Failing (When They’re Not)
New graduates often blame themselves:
“Maybe I’m not good enough.”
“Everyone else seems ahead of me.”
“I thought I’d be making more by now.”
But the truth is structural.
Beauty school rarely teaches:
assistant pathways
mentorship timelines
realistic career progression
So when reality hits, stylists internalize failure instead of recognizing misaligned expectations.
This is one of the biggest reasons stylists leave the industry within the first 3–5 years.
Real Education Starts After Graduation
The episode makes one thing very clear:
The real education begins once you enter a salon.
This is where you actually learn:
speed
client communication
pricing
emotional labor
professionalism
consistency
Assisting isn’t a punishment — it’s a bridge.
Stylists who skip foundational learning often struggle longer than those who slow down and build properly.
Instagram vs. Real Salon Life
Social media has made the Beauty School Myth even worse.
Online, you see:
packed books
luxury lifestyles
flawless work
What you don’t see:
assistants sweeping hair
unpaid hours
emotional exhaustion
years of slow growth
Comparing your early career to someone’s highlight reel is a fast track to burnout.
The episode addresses this head-on:
talent doesn’t replace time.
What Beauty Schools Should Be Teaching (But Don’t)
If schools were honest, they’d say:
“You will not be salon ready.”
“You will need mentorship.”
“You will struggle at first.”
Instead, they focus on enrollment numbers — not long-term success.
The result?
An industry full of passionate stylists who feel tricked instead of trained.
How to Actually Build a Sustainable Hairstylist Career
The episode offers real-world advice that schools skip:
Seek salons with structured mentorship
Learn business skills early
Accept that growth takes time
Stop chasing overnight success
Build consistency before confidence
Stylists who last aren’t the fastest —
they’re the most grounded.
This Isn’t Anti-Education — It’s Pro-Truth
Calling out the Beauty School Myth doesn’t mean education is useless.
It means:
expectations need correcting
transparency needs improving
new stylists deserve honesty
When expectations match reality, careers last longer.
Final Thoughts: You’re Not Behind — You Were Misled
If beauty school left you feeling underprepared, that doesn’t mean you failed.
It means the system didn’t tell the whole story.
Hair careers are built:
slowly
intentionally
with mentorship and patience
And once you understand that, everything gets easier.
🎧 Listen to the Full Podcast Episode
The Beauty School Myth
Available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major platforms.
If you’re a:
beauty student
new stylist
salon owner
educator
This episode will either confirm what you already know — or explain why the industry felt so hard so fast.
Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of Shit I Told my hairdresser, Jack, do you have a good Christmas and a happy, happy Happy New Year?
I don't know. I guess so.
Yeah,
you know what? I'm New Year's. I'm always happy All of it's over
exactly. Yes.
just done.
I actually have stopped, it's been at least five years now since I've stopped working on New Year's Eve. I refuse to do hair on that day. Normally, all my clients I've already been in, they've been to the parties. They're kind of chilling out. You always get the people that come in on New Year's Day who are from out of town.
They're going to a party somewhere and they decided like, I'm in a hotel, I'd rather just go get my hair done. And they bring in a photo of their hair, of what they want to have done. And it's like nothing like what they [00:01:00] have,
Right.
It's like the girls who have like three hairs on their head want to, to look like they have like this massive head of hair.
And I'm like, you have three. You know, so I, and I've actually left people in the chair and walked away because they're fighting with you on what they want. And they're always telling you like, Hey, my hairdresser back in like Nebraska whatnot, can do my hair like this. And I'm like, really? Show me a photo on your phone when your hair has ever looked like this, because I guarantee if it ever has, you'd have 15,000 photos if it'd be your fucking screensaver.
It'd be your screensaver right now.
right. You, you're right. if there was a miracle like that,
Exactly.
have it. She would have it on her phone. She would even hit a t-shirt printed up with that.
She'd have a fucking calendar. You know what I mean? Coming in, hanging out to the front desk. Everyone who would take one, you know so
So you just walked away
Well, I left one woman in the chair.
of your lifetime? Is that what you're,
[00:02:00] Yeah, I think that's what it was. I think that's what I missed out on, was definitely an opportunity. Yeah.
somebody's New Year's is what you did. Uh, so okay.
Before she could ruin mine, I ruined hers. So I didn't give her the opportunity. I actually snuck it out from underneath her, snagged it away, and walked away from her. I'm like you and not, she was treating me like shit. She was treating, she wasn't treating me very nice, and I just don't put up with that kind of crap.
You know what I mean? I'm like, if you're not gonna be nice, just get the fuck outta my chair. And if you're gonna go through and expect something, that is definitely not gonna happen. Goodbye. And that's the reason I stopped doing that was she literally was the reason I stopped doing hair on New Year. So I was at home hanging out a fam
The last one.
last one, she ruined it for me.
Yeah.
Debbie from Nebraska, whatever her name was, you know, so.
Um, hi Debbie. She is listening now, I'm sure.
Bye, Felicia.
yeah.[00:03:00]
uh, thank you guys for following, subscribing everyone on TikTok and on Instagram and telling all your friends about us because the show is growing and it's 'cause of you guys, and it has been amazing. So I wanna say a big, big thank you. Let's make 2026, even a bigger year. Uh, guys, we definitely want some stories.
We have, uh, a slew of people coming up. In January who are gonna be on the show and they wanna tell their stories. So Jack and I are gonna have 'em on and we really hope you guys enjoy it. We wanna hear your stories. So get up over onto our, uh, webpage at shit I told my hairdresser.com. Or email us at info at shit I told my hairdresser.com.
Hit us up on, hit us up on, uh, so you get us a DM on Instagram or TikTok, but give us a follow and tell us your crazy stories. We definitely have a bunch more to come for sure. This year.
I want to hear New Year's Eve stories mostly, um,[00:04:00]
Yes.
drunken a mess. Um, hangover. You wake up, you don't know where you're at. Those are the ones
I've, I've done that.
and you're like, who is this? Whose house is this?
Yeah. I've actually have done that. Um, I, I woke up at Oscar de la rent's house one time. He had a house in la Yeah. And his nephew, I was partying with his nephew and I woke up and I remember I was being in this gorgeous house.
Um, him at like, yeah,
Yeah, you remember him? Yeah. And I remember waking up in this room and I'm like, how in the fuck? And I remember like walking out into the living room, people were like, Hey. I'm like, oh, what? So
I never went to bed.
I don't think they ever did. I did, that's for sure. But I don't think they did. This weird, mysterious powder kept flying around the room, but um
Interesting.
huh.
Imagine that. Think we told a story about that one or two. But definitely [00:05:00] we wanna hear your, uh, stories. If, if you definitely woke up on a diff, maybe in a different country or a different state or different house, either way, we definitely want to hear it. But one of the things we had chair bear on a couple of weeks ago, and.
We were talking about beauty schools and we did a post. We put it out there onto the socials and you guys flipped out. You guys went through and were so, the majority of people though, agreed with what we had to say about the beauty schools and how they're going through and telling people that they're gonna make a hundred to $200,000 a year right as they get out onto the OUTTA school.
So they're selling this to you
who was.
there? There wasn't a lot, but I have to admit they did kind of go through and make a point on saying how they were. They're actually [00:06:00] pretty upset with me on, you know, so I would like, I had one guy who just said, yes, you can make this much money, you know, right out of beauty school. And
No, but who said
they didn't. This guy named Damon, uh, Hare,
Does he
saying,
School and
no, he works in a hair salon.
He works at a hair salon, you know, and oddly enough I went to go look at his profile as well though too. Um, it was kind of odd because he had his stuff that he had on there that was showing his professional stuff, and then his other stuff didn't even match, you know, so like the work that he was doing inside the salon didn't match what he was actually doing.
on his editorial, because normally if you're doing editorial work, it all kind of looks consistent.
Yeah.
know, this did not look consistent like at all. So you see like his professional page and then you would see his, her work, and then you would see his like, insulin work. And I'm like, there's a massive disconnect here.
Yeah.
And then I actually tried to Google it. I'd go through and save [00:07:00] the photographs. I had to check and see if I could go through and, you know, see where I can source this information from or see where, what ad it was in nowhere. I couldn't find it anywhere. And Google's pretty good at finding stuff, that's for sure.
he's lying. Um,
Right. But he wants to go through and publicly debate us. By the way, do you think we should about bring him on or.
No. Fuck him. Who cares
I dunno, I've gotta, I think I need to have a talk with this guy. You know what I mean? To kind of see exactly what he was saying. But what I think also, when I started looking through his post as well though too, he's trying to sell a course.
That's what it is. He is The only reason he is telling you that is he works. he either works for a and. That's what, um, I have to tell everyone or what you just He's, selling, uh, idea selling a lie, which is a lie, which makes me question [00:08:00] of his work. So.
more reason though I kind of, when I wanna debate him though, to tell you the truth. But I don't think I would give any error to his online courses so he can try to sell to anybody. 'cause personally. I don't wanna, if I, if I really believe in your work or if you're trying to, if you have a, something that you can actually benefit the industry more than happy for you to go through and, and come on.
Like the, you know, we have a therapist who wants to help people, you know, hair hairdressers, you know what I mean? Absolutely. Come on. And like we just had, you know, come on to the show if you're here to help someone by providing therapy and mental health. Absolutely. If you're trying to go through and work our audience and try to sell something to them, no.
So I'm gonna go through and get my feelers around on that one. I might just give him a call and kind of see what he has to say, you know? But.
And here's, Like, here's what I think will happen. You'll find out he is a scam artist and, [00:09:00] um, really he's just hoping to his own business. Uh, that's not doing well. So, um,
Is normally what it is. The people who are selling this stuff to you are usually the ones who are not doing well. And so they think of like, what other way could I go through and do a, give another stream of income? You know? But
Mm-hmm.
that's usually what it is. So do I, I don't wanna give him any space with us to go through and try to sell to other people,
or
have him
extra.
and, so like he, he mentions name of a, uh, his little. Business or whatever it's kinda get leaped out.
Oh, I'll straight up delete it. That's not, that's not a problem. But then I had another, I had another girl who said, I opened up my first salon space straight outta school, and I made $87,000 my first year. And I'm like, okay. So like I looked her up as well though too,
That's a way to do it though, is. You open up a shop, I guess, and there's obviously [00:10:00] other people working her.
right? That is not, she should have No, I think she should open up salon space. I'm thinking a suite. So by.
okay. I see.
And she made 87,000 for, and so I looked her up and she's in New York City, $87,000 for New York City is minimum wage, unless you, this is like the 1970s, you know what I mean? Maybe 1980s, but
recent, you
yeah, I think so too.
She looked young, but 87 thou. I'm like, uh, if you're in New York, you're scraping by 'cause I'm in Seattle. I'm in over here in Bellevue, and if you're making a hundred thousand dollars a year, that's minimum wage in this town. it's not a lot of money so I, and I know New York is much more expensive than it is Ashley here in Bellevue or in 'cause.
Bellevue's, the wealthiest area, a suburb of, of Seattle. And even in Seattle, a hundred thousand dollars a year is not gonna get you very far. That's for sure. So I'm kinda like, great, you made that [00:11:00] much money. You kind of needed to. But then I also was looking, she's not only a hairstylist or I should say extension and wig maker.
She also teaches Pilates. So what is it you're making $87,000 doing hair or
I mean,
Pilates? Yeah, I don't get it.
she's really not focused on either one. Then, um,
No.
so. I wonder if the income that gets is, um, collectively or just hairdressing is and then the rest
Right.
Pilates. I don't know how much you can make off of that, um,
what we're talking about, okay, is straight hairdressing. Straight hairdressing, not Pilates, not your bartender, not, and you know what? Sometimes when I first started, guess what? I was working in a movie theater and I was doing hair. 'cause I had to do that to get by,
Yeah.
pay for my bills. It's just what you have to do.
Until you get behind the chair. And then even when I did get behind the chair when I first met you, I was [00:12:00] working seven days a week inside the salon just to make sure that I made ends meet until I didn't have to, until I started teaching. You know? But I really wanted this,
That also was, part of the whole culture and everything. It's like you worked and worked and worked
yes.
because you're new and showing that you're ambitious and you want more. and we all had do that. Not everyone had to, and the ones who didn't didn't last either.
Right, and that's the thing. But back then, when we started back in the nineties, you didn't have to have the clientele that you need now. We had people coming in back then every six weeks for a haircut. That doesn't happen anymore. So when people tell you, I have a clientele of 400 or like 500 coming in, I'm like, where's the rest of 'em?
You should be doing those kind of numbers almost every month, you know? Well, unless you're doing both. I'm talking about people who just cut hair like [00:13:00] we, like we do, you know? So, but not only that though, people come in, they used to come in every six weeks, so you needed a smaller clientele. You could get away.
If you're doing both with like two or 300 a month, now you're looking at 1200 that, of a clientele that you need that, that, because they come in every three months for a haircut, sometimes every six months. Shit. I had a woman come in once, like she hadn't cut her hair in two years. She goes, look, it lasted.
And I'm like, uh, no it didn't. It looked like shit. I had no idea what was on her head.
you, should have, uh, been in here three months ago. I some,
It a year to that.
Yeah. And, um, of my clients who have long hair and everything and, the ones who don't. Color it heavily. Uh, do seasonal haircuts and that seems to work out, so like four per year.
Yeah, that sounds about right.
there's a lot of those.
Right.
it eventually works out, you know, um,
So that's what I'm saying. It's like.[00:14:00]
some who do six weeks or. Less or a little bit more, you know, and, um, not a lot of them though.
Correct. That's not, that's not the norm like it used to be.
Yeah.
You know? So that's what I'm saying. It's like it's gonna take time to go through and build a clientele. After you get done assisting. 'cause no school puts you out that I know of where you are, real world ready. And that's what these guys are saying.
It's like, oh no, they definitely do. Well the majority of people out there strongly disagree with you. They strongly disagree with you. You know, and that's the thing is that, what was someone saying here? They were like, it takes at least three years to build a clientele. unless you're working in some factory where they're handing you clients, where you charge 'em like $200 a haircut, you're not making that kind of money.
You're just not
Yeah, I mean, if. Somebody like inherits clientele maybe, I don't [00:15:00] know,
right. Maybe.
somebody hits a lottery, you know?
But normally it takes anywhere from three to five years to build a successful clientele. That's how,
about right.
and then hone in on your skills as well, the two where you're actually really good at what you're doing, not 1600 hours at a beauty school or a.
They learn everything. He is a miracle. Beauty cools where they're going.
Oh, that's the thing. I did have some people get on there as well though too, to tell me that, oh, well we're changing the mold now. We're cranking 'em out. So what they're going through and Yeah.
who says Yeah. they have just the Kool-Aid. Is,
Yes.
you know, whoever it is. Um, who has Cools left open? Is it Paul? Mitchell's one of 'em. And then, um.
Oh yeah. I mean, Aveda those Exactly. You know what I mean? But have I saw the work? I went to their pages on the social media to look at their work, and literally it looked like they just got their hair cut at like Petco.[00:16:00]
What
You know what I mean?
they weren't breaking the mold?
I, well if they did, let me tell you, it was more of a jello mold, you know what I mean?
'cause it did not look good.
looked like a mold of jello.
And I was like, whoa, okay. You wanna what? Maybe in your community, if they're outta school, they're doing great. But we're, we're done with the days of doing roller sets. You guys, it's not you going to the salon where you get someone once a week and you, you take over someone who just died over their clientele.
so listen, there are different standards, um,
Much different.
much everywhere, you know, and, and, uh. you could the time about how people dress, you know, like in wherever it is. You know, it's like some have an attitude like, well, that's good enough, and maybe these are the cities or the towns that they're talking about. They're easy to please and just like, [00:17:00] whatever. I guess this is good. I don't go anywhere really, so it doesn't matter. Uh, major cities are not like that.
no, they're definitely not like that. And you need to go through and build that clientele and you need to be making that money, and you need to know all the things that are gonna go through and keep that client happy as they're walking through the door. And you're need to, you need to go through and do that hustle, but to go through and kind of not kind of, what I found out is that these beauty schools now have to go through and give you a disclosure form on what people are making when they get out of beauty school.
That way they have to stop lying to the students. I know that's something here in Washington State that they had to start doing. As soon as you went to beauty school, you applied to go to beauty school, you, they actually had to give you a form because they've been lying so much to the students on how much they're gonna make.
Alright. And try to sell them on all these [00:18:00] things. They actually have to give them now a disclosure form on how much they will actually make
Hmm.
inside the salon. And I'm like, so if that doesn't prove our point right there, I don't know what does. That totally proves the point of what we're talking about.
and they will also whatever they can to hide that. Like it like real small, fine print or just blow over it.
Oh, no, no, no.
worry about that.
No. They actually passed a law here in Washington state saying that it has to be disclosed and front and center. And they have to sign Exactly. So the student knows, and the parents more. More importantly, the parents know
Right.
what's actually, what they're, what they're paying for is nine times outta 10.
Is the parents paying for this?
well, her ones who were like you know, it's like, don't have any credit, you know, that's how mine was. I was, uh. 16. So [00:19:00] my dad had to go in and sign papers and there was like a student loan and a grant um, he made me pay all that though.
Oh, did he? Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
he, um, he wasn't paying any of it.
He wasn't all that happy. I, Dropped outta high school. um, you know, um,
But here's the thing, like right.
to me.
Right here, though, is sometimes on the low end. As a hairdresser, I'm Googling right now, Washington State, what they have to go through and disclose to you is sometimes as 12,000 to 20,000 a year for your first year. On the average entry level stylist make between 34 to $44,000 a year, some top earners earn $60,000.
Yeah.
That's exactly. If you go back and you look at our post and you listen to a
Yeah.
it does. And if you listen to what people are [00:20:00] saying on our Instagram and our TikTok, that's exactly what they're posting as well too. They're saying exact same thing, what I just read to you, and that's what has to be disclosed to the students.
So.
the still, there's people out there who disagree with and say, no, that's bullshit. You can make a million dollars in your first year. You know?
And you wanna know what you could. You definitely could. But are you a rarity? Absolutely you are. It's not the norm. When I'm going through and I'm listening to all these people across the country saying the exact same thing, everybody
yeah.
is saying the exact same thing. You know, I kind of have to just disagree with you.
Mm-hmm.
Now is there that rare occasion, it even says right here with some of the top earners hitting 60,000 plus. Yes, there is. There is that rare occasion that you might be that person, but there's the rare occasion I might hit the fucking lottery, which I haven't done yet because I wouldn't be here talking to you.
You know, it's just, you know, luck of the, you [00:21:00] might be that person that does it. I'm not saying that it could, it could not happen. I'm just saying that it's a rarity that it does, and these schools are, they been taking advantage of you and taking your money so much so that they actually have to give you a disclosure form to tell you how much you actually will be making so that way they can't sell more courses to you to tell you spend more money with us because you're gonna get this much.
Having said that right there though. Someone actually sent me a DM on TikTok and they were actually, they worked at a beauty school. She said she actually had to quit because of how some of the policies that they, these schools have, and I have to go through and find this real quick, but she was saying that she was teaching the schools from like for 40 years.
So the schools do not care if you have the social inability to do your job. I had students who were [00:22:00] so medicated they can't even stay awake in class, much less pass any test. But we were told to do our best so the school can bleed them dry. It's very sad. I was like, holy shit. So
Like a, maybe like a.
a mental illness or.
parole, um, agreement that they gotta do something
I don't know.
of
No, she's saying that they have a, no, they have a mental in in
de oh,
These are people with mental disabilities, and it says right here, there's no way for them to even succeed of getting outta school. They just keep 'em in there until they run out of money.
Oh, wow.
is a rotten thing to do.
Um,
So you basically had from the school counselor was like, well, you wanna know what? You're really not gonna make it in the real world. Become a hairdresser. Why don't you just go do hair?
yeah, I that things like that happen even in, uh, like [00:23:00] high sc. Cools and it,
Yeah.
they just have to keep 'em in class, you know, just asses and seats and, uh, this cool. Makes a certain amount of money. I, I don't know how it works exactly.
Oh, that's exactly how it.
it's just the whole system to make money.
Yeah. And see that's the thing though, is that the schools will go through and keep them there and then pass them with a D or whatever it is just to get 'em out. And that way the school's numbers don't look bad. And that's just the regular high schools in the United States. The beauty schools do the exact same thing because they are rated on their pass rates on the kids that pass from the state board exam.
Yeah.
So that's how the schools are rated. So if you have these guys there who are not passing it, well, guess what? Who cares? Yeah. Or no, I'm sorry. If they're not passing it, then the next thing you know, it's just like their rating goes down. But if they're going through [00:24:00] and they have 'em in the school and they never even get to go to, uh, the state board exam, well, they're not counted.
They're not counted. You know, so
they don't matter.
they don't matter.
Yep.
and that's the problem. But that's, that's what she's saying is that these kids are kept inside there so they can go through and bleed them dry, take their money, and then when they're gone, they're just out. 'cause they have no more money to pay.
They can't go to school. But you also don't get to go take your state board exam either. So then it doesn't count. 'cause then you're a dropout because the success rate is on how much you pass at that point. So that they're talking about the kids that actually go to stay bored, and if they pass or if they don't pass, that's where it gets counted.
Okay. and the rest are not
Exactly. You know, so the schools are just making money off of them. They don't care. So they have some kid who's incapacitated, laying in the corner, just sleeping all day. They don't give a shit.
Just
You know what I mean? It's like, okay, whatever.
high school. Yeah.
Pretty much, yeah. [00:25:00] So beauty school has become more of an extension of the high school, I guess, you know?
this is like the 13th grade really,
Yeah. So, but thank you guys so much for going through and responding and uh, I have to say, the majority of the people went through and they did agree with us, and they, you know. We're not lying about this. We've been doing this for so long. We've seen people come and go in this industry, people who are doing hair or not doing hair, but you want, it's not just this industry, it's anything you get into, you know, you have to go through and do the work.
I mean, unless you're working for the city and then maybe you, maybe you don't, you know, like my dad used to say, my dad, my dad had a lot of isms, and one of 'em is the world still needs another ditch digger. You know? And there's nothing wrong with that, but. If you're trying to go through, if you, if you have someone lying to you saying, you're gonna make this much money, please do your homework.
Do your research on these people, you know, don't fall for it because they're all just trying to sell you something. [00:26:00] I.